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Remembering Novel Matindas, theologian, human rights defender
Novel believed that peaceful dialogue between combatants in Papua needed to prioritize the protection of civilians.
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Papuan cause: Novel Matindas (center) visits Papuan political prisoners at Salemba penitentiary in Central Jakarta on May 26, 2020. Novel died on March 27, 2022 after a battle with cancer. (Courtesy of /Amnesty International Indonesia)
“It’s not how long we live, but how we live”. That is something Amnesty International activist Novel Matindas used to say, before he passed away on March 27.
Novel was a tireless activist who embodied that phrase. Four and a half years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer and told that he only had two months left to live. A mistaken prognosis, and one that did not cause him to lose hope.
Not long after receiving the news, he even applied for a senior job at Amnesty International Indonesia. Even though he had already started to have trouble speaking, I could see the fire that he had. “If we are looking for an experienced and dedicated manager, then Novel is that person,” Tim O’Connor, a senior activist at Amnesty International Australia, said at the time.
At first, I was doubtful about whether Novel’s health would allow him to work full-time. But like the doctor who gave him two months to live, I was wrong. On his first day at work, he was already out in the field, visiting Papuan prisoners of conscience in jail. Wearing sunglasses, he sent a photo of himself with one of the prisoners outside a Jakarta detention center.
Born in Manado, North Sulawesi, on Nov. 8, 1979, Novel really loved Papua. I first met him more than 10 years ago, when we attended a meeting about the latest developments in Papua held at the office of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) in Salemba, Central Jakarta.
It turned out that Novel was the one who had organized the meeting. At the time, he was the head of the PGI’s bureau of Papuan affairs. He worked with senior activist pastors such as Gomar Gultom and Henry Lokra. More recently, he became very close to senior Papuan activist Ronald Tapilatu.
Novel had long wanted to end the conflict and achieve peace in Papua. Too many civilians had become collateral damage in a conflict that they had no direct involvement with.
